Alot of this information is good every year, slight variations will be added as seasons go on. I will update reports as much as i can through trusted follow anglers or myself.
June 12, 2010
Duck Creek and Aspen Mirror
this was a short get away...
Duck Creek, the fishing was a little slow. Mammoth creek should be blown out by the hatch property area but maybe up higher by the mammoth cabin area might be ok. BWO's and stone fly could be a consideration for dry fly but dipping stone fly nymphs in pocket water spots has been successful in the past. Just make sure you have your buggers with you incase nothing is working. Duck Creek during father's day has been fantastic for me. Great dry fly action starts around 4 or 5 pm till dark. Size 16 beatis pattern (a dun w/olive body) however it's been cold up there and the bugs last week end weren’t moving around as much. I just didn’t see the fish in the creek this time like I usually do but by the weekend Utah wildlife will probably stock the hole area for "dad day" Remember try the area lakes and drift indicators and nymphs like scuds and midges. All nymphs work pretty well but the "snow cone" pattern for me has been working great.
"Trout Season is here in the Valley"
2009/2010 Season
Floyd Lamb, Boulder City pond, Sunset pond and Lake Mead are getting stocked with Rainbow Trout. Its a little earlier than usual and the fish are small, ten inches or less. still having fun, drift nymphs like Princes, Pheasant tails, snowcones, olive haresear size 14 and midges s.14 and under and five feet from your indicator. striping micro olive B.H. Buggers sizes 10, 12, and 14s. sink tip might help.
Panguitch, September 2009
 
Its was Saturday and the weather was beautiful and the fishing was too. and then it was Sunday, it was beautiful and we got skunked. Drifting nymphs(snowcones, princes and what's working for you) four or five feet down. My website my plug. The "Wooden Partridge" Was working very well. Casted many different streamers but the W.P. was killing them. Not sure why but it didn't matter. I was very happy. Scott wasn't because he caught the biggest Rainbow of the day on my W.P., 25" maybe and lost it next to the boat.
July 20, 2009
Las Vegas Wash Area, Lake Mead
Chasing boils and casting to striper on the feed and theadfin shad were on the menu in full force. Its quite a spectacle, striper boils, fish are splashing everywhere and casting large poppers and streamers is great fun. Me and Mark Edison professional fishing guide for http://www.adventureinangling.com/Cruise up and down the shore line at trolling speed with his 24' center consol Skeeter. Two large casting decks front and back perfect for fly casters and a 300hp Yamaha
out board that does nothing shy of "kicking ass" Mark is normally equipped with casting and spinning gear but is exited about taking fly fisherman out for the thrill of "boil". Even though an angler could get away with a six wt rod for the average stripper, eight wt rods are best. Casting large poppers and streamers takes a heaver line. A fast action seven weight just might be the ticket, but if you hook a pig "hold on". Lake Mead and Lake Mojave have had state record striper pulled out in the sixty pound class. Mark and I were lucky with the weather for July on Lake Mead.
We started out on a evening hunt around 3pm. Las Vegas was experiencing some early season rains and the water was a cool 85 degrees so the cloud cover was nice and we weren't sizzling like bacon in the 115 decree misery. There was a little chop on the water that made spotting boils a little difficult, but Mark and his great guiding skills keep us moving. The Boat lunged forward and Mark saw our first boil, it was in a small cove and the striper had the shad pined in back literally pushing them out water on to the bank. Mark yelled " get your rod and be ready". with no hesitation, I had rod in hand and at attention like a good soldier. Mark quickly pulled back on the throttle before the boil so we could cruise in quietly and start casting. The fish were flying everywhere "Throw that popper in the middle" he commanded, and out it went. A striper hit immediately and I pulled my rod tip up and failed to hook. Mark reminded me that it was a strip set to catch these striped pigs with fins and after a couple losses I quickly warmed up to the technique. It Reminded me of hooking bones in that bahamas and I had to get my salt water chops and sea legs back on board. I landed one fish and the action was gone. Mark told me to pick up line so he could reposition the boat hoping the boil would come back up from behind us. The boil dissipated quickly and we moved on. I now had my "on the fish training" and for rest of the evening I had to be "johnny on the spot". Mark motored out to the bigger water of the arm of the Las Vegas wash to look back at the bays and coves of the area. To put it in a nut shell we were "sight boating to rising boils" as soon as one of us would see one, Mark would high tail it over to the area and then ease up to cruise in on the fish. This was highly effective and a exciting way to fly fish and obviously having a boat is necessity for this type of angling. We were lucky enough to find about six or seven boils in about three hours of fishing. The last boil was the best, it came up around 7:30pm. It was in a little bay area and it lasted for about 20 minutes before it tapered out. Mark and myself's experience for this day for boils were sporadic and they could be small or large and last a few minutes to 20 minutes. I brought about 20 fish to the side of the boat. I would suggest chasing "stripers on the boil" at Lake Mead to any body and having Mark Edison as your guide would be a great asset.
Here's the flies that I was using. I tied the streamer on the left and the popper on the right was store bought.
My son Patrick landing a rainbow trout at Duck Creek UT.
Monday, April 13, 2009
East fork Sevier River, Kingston canyon. Blue ribbon section.
fished for little over an hour and caught a bow, cutty, brownie and a small whitey. "Grand Slam eh"! There was a great caddis hatch at 11:00 am UT. time. A size 12 black bodied brown winged caddis. How ever the fish were not feeding on them. We used zug bugs and princes in the deep pools to get most of the fish. The water was low and reasonably clear.
Otter Creek Reservoir
1 p.m. fished from bank about the middle part of Res. for about 45 min with no success, to shallow to far to cast. My buddy Mark doing ok with drifting snow cones and midges on a pontoon. Mark pump the stomach of one of the trout it was full of size 14 black midges and olive micro bugs, not sure what they were probably filtering them like krill. fish were good size ranging 16" to 20". I heard brown buggers were also good.
Fremont River area "The Bottoms"
4 p.m.very small area of the river system not suggested for the amateur for technical fishing. Water should always be clear here because of hatchery. Small midge hatch but no feeding, did not hook up, fish were down because of previous anglers in the area. I suggest getting a guide for better success. Doing well here is catching a couple of fish in an hour. I have succeeded here in the past but again technical fishing.
Tuesday April 14, 2009
Upper Fremont River above Mill Meadow Res.
8 a.m. fishing ok small brookies and browns on zug bugs in deep pools. Water was running low and clear. Small midge hatch here and there no feeding. Johnson Valley Res. was still completely iced over. Did not make it to Fishlake because of old snow drifts on highway.
East Fork Sevier River, Black Canyon
12 noon water clouding up with run off. Very windy no apparent hatches. Caught 16" female Rainbow in great condition "fat" on a black bugger holding in a large bank cutout. Nice water will go back.
Mammoth Creek by Hatch Bridge
3 p.m. water low and semi clear. no apparent hatch. Fishing in rain, sleet and snow flurries. fishing was good, a few rainbows and brownies in the 10"- 15" range. Dry dropper rig catching them on a size 12 BH Prince nymph. Hatch bridge under construction but still accessible. 6 p.m. Driving in virtual white out on Highway 14. Duck Creek pond no ice and Navaho Lake iced over
Fly fishing is sexy. One never really knows how deep the water is. That's why I wear a parachute!
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October 2009
Lake Mead, Boulder Harbor
Catching a carp on a fly is kind of an enigma to a lot of anglers. First, they’re not easy to catch and second, who wants to catch them anyway. Fly fishing for carp in recent years has been put on the anglers list as the fresh water Bonefish. The catch is firm and to the point, a kind of “steam engine” pull. I have caught a few in my day but not many. My buddy Scott Thrasher and I have been on a Quest lately. We have come to the conclusion that Las Vegas at times can really suck for fly fishing. I and a lot of other anglers are saying “If you want to live and Fly fish in “Sin city” a person needs to open all the angling avenues they can”. If it’s scalely, cast a fly to it (excluding ex-wives of course).
Scott Thrasher with a Lake Mead common Carp
This Common Carp was caught on a size eight, olive BH Wooly Bugger. It was close to the bank and actively feeding. An angler has to be quiet, patient and persistent. We fished for about three hours and casted to four or five fish and hooked up once. Believe it or not it was still worth it. There is something tranquil, an “ugly betty” of sorts. Wanting your respect, but not asking for it. It’s all sight casting in shallow water, a little puppeteering of your fly and the unexpected hook up and run and that’s where the bonefish feel comes in. You will need 7, 8, and 9wt. rods with floating line. 4x, 3x, and 2x leaders and tippets on hand. Take nymphs, San Juan Worms, carp tease and buggers of coarse and do a lot of hunting and casting. Scott and I walked the shore for this report. Take plenty of water and last but not least enjoy yourself.
May 3-10, 2009
Upper and Lower Madison River, Montana
Through the rain, sleet and snow we prevailed. The mighty Madison was fishing tough .If it wasn't for spirit of the fearless few the trip would be lost, the trip be lost. BWO, March Browns, and Caddis were a constantly available but the fish were not looking up. Nymph fishing was most productive with brown stones, rubber legs prince nymph and copper johns. There were a few opportunities on emergers. We fished Tandam fly rigs as usual BWO drys with a 12" lead to a olive sparkle dun.. The area fly shops were suggesting craw dad patterns. Unfortunatly, I left all mine at home. It was the last pattern I thought I would be using. The Madison below Ennis Dam was are spot of glory. My buddy Scott landed a 21" Brownie and the average size tend to be 16" to 18". The upper Madison did not produce due to the limited area to fish during the spawn.
  
Gallatin River, Montana
Touch and go with the season run off but the Gallatin is the appitamy of a dry fly river. The fish were doing more of a porpoise rise so cripples and sparkle duns were the key to success. nymphing was also successful but sight casting to feeding fish will always be the best. The weather was a constant battle on this trip but its always worth the misery.--Scott's cutty in the middle pic. on the Gallatin
  
Yellowstone River, Montana
The Yellowstone! What can I say, "Big, Beautiful and free flowing." We did not spend much time on the river (our loss). The evening hatch of size 14 Beatis was magnificent. The dry fly action with the fish lined up on the edges of a shallow sand bar by Carters bridge was great. We stood in three feet of water with rises literally four and five feet away from us. It was exciting. We were catching most of the fish on sparkle duns and a small mix of Caddis. We did not experience the famous "Mother's Day Caddis," but the BWO's were a close second.
  
Panguitch Lake Utah
Saturday, June 20, 2009
It was hard to hold positions on the lake do to the high winds. The pontoons and float tube got us in to a few fish but still had a great time. successful techniques and patterns were drifting"Shop Vacs"(suggested and tied by Bill T), "Prince nymphs" and striping Green Wooly Buggers with a sink tip.
   
John K., Garth H., Jim F and Me
Southern Utah
June 29- July 2, 2009
Duck Creek evening hatch was Mahogany Duns size12 and Baetis s.16 and just stocked with 12" rainbows, all dry fly action. During the day, dry dropper rigs were successful sm. stimulators and snow cones, fish were taking the dropper -Panguitch Lake big bows striping olive buggers Size.10's and 8's-Navaho Lake nice size Brookies,rainbows and splake. Drifting Princes and striping olive buggers with sink tip with great success.- Aspen Mirror, mixed it up with many fly patterns and techniques and fish were taking Olive buggers s.10 again
clark county trout season 08/09
MY TWO CENTS!!
I can't help but notice some of the tragic catch and release techniques that have been practiced over
the years especially at our urban ponds. I have personally witnessed a whole Oncorhynchus Mykiss digestive
tract yanked out with a pair of long nose pliers just to retrieve a 5 cent cheese hook and then throwing the
carcass back into the water. I've also seen a spin caster pitching spoons with great success and throwing his
catch on the bank next to his uninterested dog claiming he was feeding him. I hope I am not giving the impression
that I'm forming a movement against bait or spin casting anglers but the fishing abuse that is present is overwhelming.
What I would like to ask of my fellow avid fly anglers is to educate on the alternate ways of fishing. for example,
when talking to a bait angler encourage the benefits of catch and release with fly equipment or lures stating that
the fly or lure is 95% of the time is not swallowed and is hooked in the lip area thus a far more efficient way to
release fish and a more exciting way to fish. if a bait angler seem interested in your preaching to save the world
tell him or her there are classes and people to talk to at NDOW, Bas Pro, Sportsmans WareHouse and qualified private
instructors in town like Steve White and Myself. Inthuseist organizations like Trout Unlimited and
Las Vegas fly fishing club would love to increase their membership count. In closing, don't be pushy
but be sincere and maybe the someday watching your fellow angler catch fish will be as pleasant as the scenery.
Trying to save the world one angler at a time! Woody
P.S. I love to eat trout, I take fish occasionally.
Floyed Lamb State Park (lower pond)
What a great place to learn how to flyfish! Whether you are a amateur or a skilled angler, "Tule Springs" another name it is called, will sooth that angling itch when you can't get out of town. During the summer months Blue gill are a great pass time. They are not particular and easy to catch. Use the lightest equipment as possible and small dry flies are the most fun.
 
Brian D. with Floyed Lamb Park Blue Gill
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